Beginnings: Castle Arundel

The man led Chris to the left of the castle. They approached a small bridge. "By the way," he said, "the name's Lawrence. And what about you?"
"I'm Chris. So what city is this?"
"This is Arundel Castle. So what city are you from?" he asked.
"Oh! Um... I don't remember... That is, I'm not saying just yet..."
"You must've been hit pretty hard."
They passed through the city gates. Straight ahead looked like a market or town square. Lawrence led him towards it. As they passed through the market, Chris saw all sorts of things being bought and sold. Pigs and chickens were running around everywhere. For every market stall they passed, someone started peddling their merchandise at him. Chris just tried not to make eye contact with anyone. After passing through the market, they made a few more turns until they arrived at a street near the edge of the town. The houses were all two stories, with the second floor coming in farther than the first. It made the road pretty dark.

Lawrence led Chris through a door on his right. They walked into a somewhat large room. "Come on in," he said.
"So this is your house?" Chris asked.
"Yep. My boys are off at Norwich as apprentices. Just me and my wife now. Margaret! Come in here and meet Chris."
An middle-aged woman came through one of the doors on the far wall. "Yes, what is it, Lawrence?"
"This is Chris. He got attacked by theives the other day. He'll be eating with us today. Go ahead and set another spot at the table."
"Well, it's good to meet you Chris," she said.
Chris spent the afternoon with Lawrence, trying to figure out what he could do while he was figuring out what he could do to get home. "Well, I guess you could join me tomorrow. Our garden keeps us from spending too much on food, but I keep working to keep us financially safe. Ever since the boys left, we haven't had need to spend much. I'll tell you what. You can help me with my work, and we'll feed you and let you stay here. If you find a real job, you can take it, but if not, you can stay here. It has been awfully lonely."
"That's really nice of you Lawrence. I'm glad I got knocked out here. So what will I be doing, working with you?" Chris asked.
"Well, I'm a hunter. You'll be carrying supplies, maybe helping set some traps."
Chris agreed that it was more than a generous trade of services.
Late in the afternoon, Margaret called Lawrence and Chris down for dinner. Chris was surprised to see quite a large amount of food at the table. There was a spread of meats and bread. It wasn't a very big table, but it was covered in food.
After a good meal, Lawrence took Chris up to the second floor to a rather small room. "You can stay in here."
Chris settled into the somewhat tough bed to try and get some sleep, hoping that by some chance, he would wake up in his dorm.